Thursday, May 28, 2009

Last week we continued our inquiry work on "10 Ways to Save the Planet" by setting up an experiment to see how quickly different items would breakdown in water. Pop into Room 11 and have a look at the jars containing a pear, a marble, glad wrap, paper, fabric and tin foil. Why not set up your own experiment at home with items from your household rubbish. This week we will starting to look at a number of ways to reduce, reuse and recycle our waste.

On Thursday we had a great time at the Nelson Museum with Cindy who helped us act out Maori myths and legends. We also learnt about the wharewhakairo, or meeting house, on a Maori Marae. Take a look at Cindy showing us how the parts of the wharewhakairo are like the body of a person.

These photos show us acting out four different legends.

The Tale of Tuna-RoaKaha Kua's Net

Tane Brings Light To The World

Rata and the Canoe

One of our sounds from last week was the phoneme 'y'. We made and shared Mixed Berry yoghurt to help us remember the action that goes with this sound.

Here is this week's poem, Hey Diddle Diddle, can you hear the 2 words which contain the 'oo' digraph?

This week our sound focus will be on 'x' and 'ch' and the tricky word will be 'look'. Our shared book is 'Funny Bones' by Janet Ahlberg. In maths we will be looking at pairs of numbers that add together to make 10. On Wednesday we will be visiting the transfer station at Tahuna to see what happens to all the waste we put in our blue recycle bins and in the afternoon everyone is welcome to come along and support the whole school cross country event. On Thursday afternoon we will be going to the Suter to look at an exhibition which will inspire us to jump, move and dance

Friday, May 22, 2009

Last week we were out and about collecting rubbish from the school grounds. We were glad to find less than we had expected. In class we added the rubbish from our 2 classroom bins and then sorted it into different groups. We found glass, fabric, paper, plastic, metal and plants. If you would like to repeat this idea at home please send in the results and any pictures for us to share in class.

Later in the week we were out and about again, but this time collecting leaves for a whole class art project that we hope to display in the school entrance area. The project is based around the poem by Eleanor Farjeon " Down, down, yellow and brown, the leaves are falling over the town." Last week we made rubbings, prints and sketches of the leaves and this week we will be making the buildings for the town. Here we are helping our friends to hold their leaves in place.

Our Maori legend this week was The Koroua and the Mauri Stone. It fitted well with our current topic as it was all about the animals and trees that we are so lucky to have on our planet and need to look after. The maori names of the animals and plants were quite tricky to pronounce so we invited Elmas to come along and help us out, eveyone learnt lots, including Tracy.

Our poem for last week was Sing a Song of Sixpence. See how many words you can hear containing the 'ng' digraph when you listen to the poem below. The illustration was coloured by Jenna.

This week we will be learning the single sound 'y' and the digraph 'oo' which has 2 sounds e.g. book or moon. Our tricky words are 'look' and 'too' and our poem focus is 'Hey Diddle Diddle". The big book we are sharing is called Rabbit and Rooster's Ride. In maths we are working on "teen" and 'ty' numbers. We are off to the Nelson Museum on Tuesday morning for a workshop on Maori Myths and Legends and in our inquiry will be thinking about what happens to all the rubbish we put in our bins. Another very busy week ahead!!!

RemindersCross country practice Monday to Thursday, please send suitable footwear for these daily practices.Tuesday 26th May Maori Legends workshop at the Museum 9.10-11am

Wednesday 3rd June: Recycling Centre visit 1o.10-11.45 cars needed, followed by whole school cross country 1-3pmThursday 4th June Art and Movement Exhibition at the Suter 1-3pm (may be cancelled or postponed due to going out on Wednesday as well)Monday 29th June Maori Musical Instruments workshop at the Museum 9.10-11am

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

On Wednesday we went to the Suter Gallery to see the 'I Spy" exhibition. It was great fun and helped us to think of some good describing words when we were writing clues for other groups to use. Here we are hard at work. Why not pop along to the Suter on Saturday, it's free, and see if you can solve some of their clues. A big thank you to all the parents who came along to help and support us.

Ask you child what was so surprising about this picture!

On Friday we had the opportunity to spend a sesion with some of the musicians from the Nelson Symphony Orchestra involved with Tuby The Tuba. We looked at the instruments and the plasticine models used in putting together the show. You can see the show at the Nelson School of Music this Saturday 16th May. Can you guess which Room 11 friend these legs belong to?

Check out this week's poem and listen for all the words containing the 'z' sound.

Next week our tricky words will be 'here' and 'come' and our sounds are 'ng' and 'v'. Our big book focus will be Lavalava and we will be looking at the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence". In maths we are continuing our focus numeracy and working in our groups. We will be making prints, rubbings and sketches of autumn leaves in art. The cross country practices are still taking place 4 times a week, thank you for sending in sensible footwear.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Last week we started our art unit on printing by making finger print flowers and bees to put together for a Mother's Day Cards. This shows us at stage one of the process, we hope you enjoyed the finished product!

On Thursday at 3.15, just when we had all gone home, our second butterfly hatched and on Friday a third butterfly emerged whilst we were at assembly and morning tea. Look out for them sunning themselves on the hydrangea plant outside Room 12.

We shared the story of Maui and the Big Fish, the first in a series of Maori myths and legends that we will be studying this term. Ask your child to retell the story as you share this short video from youtube.

Our poem last week was Baa Baa Black Sheep. Play this short clip of us reciting the poem and listen out for words containing the digraphs 'ee' and 'or'. We hope to make broadcasting our poem a regular slot on the weekly blog.

This week we are learning the sounds 'z' and 'w' and the tricky words 'here' and 'like'. Remember to come along to the parent's Jolly Phonics Workshop on Thursday 21st to find out more about the program we use. In maths we are thinking about numbers that we can show on our fingers made from 5 and a bit e.g 5+2=7. Our inquiry topic will continue by classifying some of the harmful things that are happening to our planet and thinking of things we can do to prevent them. On Wednesday we are off to the Suter Gallery to look at some alphabetical art, any helpers are very welcome, so come along and share in your child's learning.

RemindersCross country practice Monday to Thursday, please send suitable footwear for these daily practices.Monday: Library books due backWednesday 13th May Eye-Spy Exhibition at the Suter 1-3pmThursday 21st May Parents' Jolly Phonics evening 7-8.30pmTuesday 26th May Maori Legends workshop at the Museum 9.10-11amThursday 4th June Art and Movement Exhibition at the Suter 1-3pmMonday 29th June Maori Musical Instruments workshop at the Museum 9.10-11am

Room 11 Nelson Central School

We are a new entrant class at Nelson Central School, Nelson, New Zealand. We opened on Tuesday 3rd February 2009 and our teachers are Tracy and Jenny. This blog will tell you what we have been doing each week and what we will be learning the following week. Check out the link to Room 11 Kidz Stuff 2009 to look at our individual learning.